Survival
by Kathryn Rayner Of Voyager
Summary: An attack on Voyager brings a new life into the lives of the Command Team.
1. Stranded

Survival

"Alright, off you go, disappear," said Professor Kathryn Jameway, dismissing the class. The students shot towards the door, all except one: a little blonde girl with a thick braid, Naomi Wildman. She waits until her classmates have disperssed until she collects her books and approaches the teacher's desk.

"Aunt Kathy? Can I talk to you?" she asks quietly. Kathryn smiles and kneels down next to her.

"What is it, Naomi?"

"Why can't we go back to Voyager?" Kathryn stroked Naomi's hair.

"Because if we go back to Voyager, we could get attacked again, and the repairs haven't been completed yet. We wouldn't be able to defend ourselves very well."

"Okay. I've got to go to my next class, so I'll see you after school," she smiles and runs for her next class. Kathryn sighs, and stands, brushing down her trousers and gathering her papers. She locks her classroom behind her as she leaves and starts to head for the teachers lounge when the Spiritual Beliefs and Religion Professor and her husband, Chakotay, drops into step beside her and slips his arm around her waist, flashing her a dimpled smile that always makes her go weak at the knees.

"How are things, Kathryn?" he asks her. She sighs again, and leans against him as they walk.

"Slow. Captaining a starship is a piece of cake compared to trying to teach Spacial Physics to humanoids who are as technologically-evolved as twenty-first century humans. It's hard." Together, they sit down on the couch in the teachers lounge, Chakotay's arms around Kathryn. "I miss Voyager and our crew. It's strange walking down the corridor and having a student stopping me with a question instead of a crewman or an Ensign, or even Neelix."

"I know, I feel the same way. I sometimes forget that for now, I'm a professor and not a Commander. Now, only Naomi calls me Commander in the hallway, they've even come up with quite a good story to explain why they do to the other students," Kathryn laughed softly at that, a smile on her face.

"It must be one heck of a story."

"It is," the voice draws attention to the figure stood in the doorway. "We're not interupting anything are we?" Kathryn and Chakotay smile warmly and shake their heads as the Geography Professor Tom Paris, and the Mathematics Professor Tuvok sit down around the room.

"Repairs to Voyager are going well, Captain. They should be complete within the week," states Tuvok.

"What about our friends up there in space? Any news of them?" presses Chakotay.

"No. It appears that they are under the impression that we no longer exsist, so we are therefore no a threat in their eyes, because you cannot be a threat if you do not exsist."

"Thank you, Tuvok. The crew seems to be holding up well, under the circumstances. Naomi will be pleased." Chakotay looked down at Kathryn, frowning. "She stayed behind after class to ask why we couldn't go back to Voyager." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and gently squeezed her shoulders.

"We'll be going home soon, and we'll be safe when we do."

Tom smiles, amused at the picture that his colleagues present, curled up together on a couch in the teachers lounge of a high school.

"Chakotay!" screamed Kathryn before something was pushed into her mouth, her arms being twisted painfully behind her back. Something was whacked her across the back of her knees, and her legs buckled, throwing her onto her side on the forest floor, dazing her when her head hit the floor, hard, a small stone grazing her forehead.

When her head cleared a little, she moved her head, trying to see Chakotay when a phaser shot was fired, striking her perpertrator and sending them to crashing to the floor. A shadowy figure drops to her side and starts to fiddle with the ropes binding Kathryn's wrists, until the rope loosens and slips free. The figure then starts to fiddle with the cloth gag over Kathryn's mouth until it slips free as well.

"Come on, Captain, its not safe here," whispers Naomi, helping Kathryn stagger weakly to her feet and pulling her along. Kathryn stumbled and almost tripped, but Naomi tugged at her hand harder, until they rounded a corner and comforting arms enveloped her.

"Kathryn! Are you okay?"

"Chakotay!" she buries her face in his jumper and starts to cry. "I was so scared. I didn't know what to do!" He pulls her closer and strokes her hair, kissing her lightly on the top of her head. She sniffs, and pulls away slightly. "Who was he?"

"A Devonix Major. It appears someone leaked information about our whereabouts to the Devonix and they're coming after us," he sighed. "Come on, let's catch up with the others." She leans against him as they walk, his arm wrapped around her waist to support her.

They find Tuvok, Tom, Seven, Neelix, and the Doctor in a small clearing. The Doctor scans Kathryn with a tricorder, runs a tissue regenerator over the graze on her forehead and presses a hypospray to her neck to combat the effects of the concussion and growing heachache.

"Where should we go? What should we do?" asks Neelix. "If they're coming after us, we can't stay here, they'll have found us by morning."

"We've started heading West," says Tom, squinting up at the darkening sky through the gap in the dark green canopy of leaves that filtered limited light into the rest of the forest.

"They will expect us to keep heading west. We should head North, East, or further West before looping round to return to our current position. The repairs on board Voyager should be finished by the time we return if we head in one of those directions and loop back."

Naomi looks up at Kathryn. "Why can't we go back to Voyager?"

"Because we can't leave if Voyager is damaged sweetie, and while we're down here, they won't attack Voyager. And if they don't damage Voyager even more, Voyager has a chance to get repaired so we can go back home," explains Tom.

"Okay."

"So, which way shall we head? We don't have much light left, so we probably won't get very far, but it'll be a start." Expectant faces turned to Kathryn.

"We'll start by heading North, then turn East and return as close to the coast as is safe to. Tuvok, how far North would we need to go?"

"Approximately thirty-five miles, Captain. We should then go East by seven miles, and then we should return South. Repairs should be complete upon our return."

They set off down the narrow Northern track: Seven at the front with the Doctor. Then Tom and Naomi, Kathryn and Chakotay, and finally, Neelix and Tuvok.

Seven and the Doctor discussed etnobotony. Tom and Naomi made jokes. Kathryn leaned against Chakotay, struggling to stay awake. Neelix was telling Tuvok about the properties of leola root . . . again.

When it became too dark to continue, they stepped off the beaten track, and settled down in a small, secluded patch of grass, hidden by bushes and trees.

Chakotay was woken the next morning by Kathryn struggling against his arm. She was looking deathly pale and slightly green.

"I'm going to be sick!" she hissed quietly, panicked. Chakotay helped her up and lead her over to the bushes furthest from the rest of the sleeping Away Team crew, holding her hair back from her face as she threw up into the bushes, gently rubbing her back. Seven, the Doctor, Tuvok and Naomi stirred, their sleep interrupted by Kathryn's retching.

Kathryn's retching calmed down after a few minutes, and she collapsed weakly into Chakotay's arms, letting him carry her back to where they had been sleeping, curled up against his chest, her hand clapsing his, her head against his shoulder. Alarmed, the Doctor scans her.

"Captain, how long has this been going on, and when has it been happening?" Kathryn looked up at Chakotay, squeezing his hand, her eyes pleading.

"A few days, maybe a week. Always first thing in the morning, right after she wakes up. Why, what is it?" The Doctor checked his readings before he showed the tricorder to Kathryn and Chakotay.

"Chakotay . . ." He smiled warmly and placed a gently kiss on her forehead.

"It's okay sweetheart, everything'll be okay. We can get through this together," he murmured in her ear, stroking her hair and holding her close.

The Doctor closed the tricorder and moved away, slipping the medical instrument back into his medical kit.

"What's wrong with the Captain?" Naomi asks, tugging at the Doctor's sleeve. He grinned and pulled her close so that he could whisper in her ear.

"Can you keep a secret?" she nodded, her eyes sparkling with excitement and anticipation. "The Captain's pregnant. She's going to have a baby." Naomi's smile grew.

"Secret, shh," she whispered, putting a finger to her lips.

"Shh," agreed the Doctor. Naomi giggled, and skipped over to where Kathryn and Chakotay were sat contently, side by side, tugging at Kathryn's sleeve and whispering in her ear. Kathryn smiled, and pulled Naomi into her lap, and they talked, whispering and laughing quietly.

"Doctor, what is the Captain's condition?"

"It's nothing serious, Tuvok, and they will tell you when they see that the time is right for you to know."

"Then it involves Chakotay as well as the Captain, Doctor?"

"Yes, Seven."

They proceeded slowly, but not once was there any sign that they were being followed. They traveled from dawn 'til dusk, stopping every few hours to rest whenever Neelix found a strange looking plant that looked edible enough to eat. He found different ways to serve each dish, some which made Kathryn and Chakotay sick, and others that made Tom sick.

Tom often joked with Neelix and Naomi about their predicaments, but fell silent one day, when they were two days travel from where Voyager would lock onto them and beam them back to safety. The Doctor's mobile emitter needed charging, so he was offline.

He motioned for everyone to be silent and sat listening intently for five minutes before he jumped to his feet and stared into the forest, trying to see something or someone. Seven and Tuvok stand behind him. "Over there. I heard branches breaking, and then I saw something move."

Tuvok, squinting, follows the direction of Tom's pointing finger. "It could have been a large of animal native to this planet?"

"No, too tall, heavy and slow. And probably armed as well."

"He is indeed correct with his assumptions. No woodland animal would move this slow in the presence of humanoids, nor would they see the need to hide. The way they move is also clumsy and loud. The glinting is more natural to a metal or manufactured material of some kind, not a biological one. It appears that they are calculating how to approach us without drawing attention to themselves," Seven adds, her voice low enough not to be heard by the shaows, but loud enough for the Away Team crew to hear.

"Is it possible for us to get out of here without being detected?"

"Yes, but it would not take long before we were caught. If we remain here, our chances of capture are greater, but our capture will be delayed. It should also be assumed that there are others advancing on us from that direction."

"Could we go back the way we came? Or we could use their tactics to get to the coast, and hope that they don't try to follow us into the crowds."

"Once they realise that we are on the move, it will not take long for them to surround and capture us, but it is possible that we could reach the coast by the time they reach this position, but we must not go together. We must go in pairs, or on our own. That way, we will avoid detection for as long as possible, and the chance that one of us reaches the coast is greater."

"Tuvok?"

"That would be the logical decision."

"Let's get going then." They turn back into the clearing. Naomi was drawing pictured in the dirt with her finger, Neelix was gazing absently up at the canopy while prodding at the dying fire with a stick. Kathryn was half-asleep in Chakotay's shoulder, a sight that had become quite familiar over the last few days.

All of them are covered in bruises, cuts, scratches, scrapes, dirt, mud and blood. Small twigs and sticks stick out of the girls hair, and clothes are ripped, shredded and torn. Everyone is tried and weary, unsettled and discomforted.

Everyone but Kathryn and Chakotay had made it to the coast and found everyone else. The cold sea air reminds us of the holes and tears in our clothes.

It is almost dark when they arrive. Chakotay is carrying Kathyrn, her eyes are closed, her skin is paler than usual and her leg is bleeding badly.

"Aunt Kathy!" wails Naomi. Chakotay lies her gently down on a bench and Naomi and Tom gather round her, Tom scanning her leg, Naomi holding her hand. Tom managed to stop the bleeding and heal the deep gash, but she had lost a lot of blood and was starting to burn up.

The local hospital is near, so they took her there, where they gave her blood and mild doses of medication and painkillers through drips and food through IV tubes. They gave the rest of the Away Team crew, all except Chakotay, who refused to leave Kathryn's side, a cooked meal of something resembling a traditional Earth roast dinner. Afterwards, they asked Chakotay what happened.

"Kathryn's been getting tired a lot easier lately, so we weren't going particularly fast, and they caught up with us. They surrounded us almost completely and shot at our feet to scare us, and she panicked, and tried to run, but she tripped on a tree root and blacked out sfter hitting her head on something else on the way down. I was terrified for her, and I couldn't answer any of their questions, because all I could see and hear was Kathryn falling, and screaming as she fell. So they eventually gave up and moved on to try and find someone of more use to them. I didn't know wha to do, I wanted to help her more than anything, but I didn't have anything that I could use to help her, so I picked her up and finished heading for the coast."

"You did everything you could Chakotay, and she will love you even more for that." Tom squeezes his shoulder. There was a long silence.

"Tom, can I use the tricorder?"

"Yeah, sure, knock yourself out . . ." Chakotay ran the tricorder over Kathryn's stomach and grinned, and reached out to gently squeeze Kathryn's hand. Naomi tugged at Chakotay's sleeve, worried about her secret. She grinned a grin to match that of Chakotay's, and whispered in Chakotay's ear. He gave her the tricorder and whispered something in her ear.

Seven watched the exchange with facination. She had observed similar occurences over the last few days between Naomi, Chakotay and the Captain, and was curious to know what the exchanges were about, but never wanted to intrude. But she was amused to see Naomi almost bouncing over to Tuvok and showing him the data on the tricorder screens.

"Chakotay?" her voice wakes him. She's stirring, her hand curling tightly around his.

"Shh, Kathryn, shh, it's okay," he murmured, squeezing her hand reassuringly, gently rubbing the back of her hand. Her eyelids fluttered and she squinted at his face in the bright light of the hospital room. She smiled faintly and sighed.

"My baby?" she murmurs. He guided her hand to her stomach.

"Is fine. Don't worry." She smiles contently and closes her eyes again.

"I love you, Chakotay."

He gently strokes her hair. "I know, Kathryn, I know. I love you too, but you're tired. Go to sleep now, you need to rest."

"Captain! Commander! They have found us, we must hurry. We are a danger to the people here, and they will be upon us in minutes if we remain here," Seven stands in the doorway, her hands clasped behind her back as she watches fear cross Kathryn's face.

Chakotay lifts Kathryn into his arms and she curls her arms around his neck. They find the rest of the Away Team crew waiting outside a disused side door on the ground floor that leads into a dark alleyway. They head into the darkness and down the alleyway, away from the lights and noise of the main streets of the coastal fishing village. The alleyway leads into dark, secluded back streets where water drips from gutters, roof tiles and windowsills and small rodent-like animals similar to Earth rats scuttle around their ankles, running over their feet, squeaking and squealing.

Seven carries Naomi, padding alongside Tuvok as she tells the young half-K'Tarian girl a story, seemingly unaffected by the dripping water and scuttling rats. Neelix carries his food supplies basket close, trying not to spill the food over the floor whenever a rat scrambles over his feet. Tom observes Kathryn and Chakotay, murmuring to himself with a small, curious smile. Kathryn shivered in Chakotay's arms, even with his jacket around her shoulders.

Fires start to blaze and explosions erupt in buildings along the main streets by the bay. Naomi buried her face in Seven's shoulder while she continues her story, trying not to cry as each new fire started and new explosions exploded and erupted.

Tom fell silent, and a solemness engulfed the crew, so he focused on Seven and her story instead of the eerie silence that hung with the rest of Away Team crew.

Neelix had stopped noticing the rats and the dripping of the water. The sounds of the erupting explosions and crackling flames rang in his ears, the flickering lights enblazened on the inside of his eyelids, so he could still see the flames even when he blinked. His heart pounded in his chest as their footsteps echoed around the dark alleyways, giving him the feeling that they were being followed and watched from all sides.

Seven was scared, nervous and slightly worried. She carried Naomi because the young girl couldn't keep up with them, and Ensign Wildman was not present. Naomi had said that stories made her feel better when she was afraid, and Seven was happy to agree with her. Being able to concentrate on telling Naomi a story left no time for her to think about what was happening around them, what had already happened to them, and what could happen to them before they reached Voyager.

Tuvok observes the crew from behind, watching and noting their reactions. Naomi is visibly scared, jumping at even the slightest thing; Seven is trying to comfort her, but is doing a better job of comforting herself; Tom is listening to Seven's story, trying not to be scared by their latest predicament; Neelix is in a trance-like state, not really taking anything in any longer; Kathryn appeared to be dazed and confused, nodding slightly as Chakotay talks to her and tries to keep her warm and comfort her quietly. They are all tired and weary, and they don't really know what to do, they haven't got a plan, other than to keep moving.

Seven stands, monitoring the area as Tuvok meditates and the rest of the crew sleeps. The Captain and Commander Chakotay are curled up together, Naomi asleep between them. Neelix is asleep, his body curled around the food supplies basket, Tom curled up in much the same way around the Away Team medical kit.

It is well into the night. The fires and explosions stopped hours ago, how many Seven does not know, but it is cold without them, and the breeze is fierce. There is no moon this night, so there is no light, making the shadows seem more daunting and ominous. There are no noises from the surrounding alleyways; they had chosen a dead-end alley to settle down in for the night, and no one had approached them since they had set up camp for the night.

"Torres to Janeway."

"Janeway here."

"Repairs are complete. We are ready to beam the Away Team up, and will jump to Warp as soon as we have you on board."

"Do it. Janeway out."

The Transporter Beam locked onto the Away Team and pulled them from the surface and onto Voyager, where they materialised in the middle of Sickbay, greeted by the smiling face of Sam Wildman, but were knocked to the floor as Voyager jumped straight to Warp 7, departing rapidly from the planet's orbit and disappearing into space, dropping down to impulse power outside of Denovix space.

Tom connected the mobile emitter to a computer console and uploaded the Doctor's program back into the main computer, activating him as soon as upload was complete. The Doctor materialised in Sickbay and smiled merrily as he ordered everyone onto biobeds. He scanned Naomi first, pressed a hypospray to her neck and called Sam Wildman over with a plate of food and a mug of Hot Chocolate. He then scanned Tom Paris, Tuvok and Chakotay, repeating similar procedures with them, Sam handing each of them something different from the Sickbay replicator, before moving to scan Seven, press a hypospray to her neck and realign her implants. As she slips away to regenerate in Cargo Bay 2, he scans the Captain and presses a small selection of medical and pre-natal hyposprays to her neck, grinning broadly. Chakotay squeezes her hand from the next biobed as Naomi crawled onto the end of Kathryn's.

"At ten weeks old, she's doing well, Captain," he transfers the data from the tricorder onto the screen in the wall above Kathryn's head. She swings her legs off the edge of the biobed and a small gasp escapes her lips.

Naomi climbs onto Kathryn's lap and studies the screen. Kathryn's arms slip around her waist to stop her from slipping from her lap to the floor. She points at the screen. "Is that your baby?"

"Yes."

Naomi puts her hands on Kathyn's stomach. "The baby in here?"

Kathryn smiles down at Naomi. "Yes."

"She's pretty."

"Just like her mother." Naomi giggles as Chakotay settles down next to them on the biobed with a steaming mug of coffee. "Coffee?"

"How can I say no?"

"Doc, are you sure that's a wise idea?" Tom asks as Naomi crawls onto Chakotay's lap and he hands the Captain the mug of coffee.

"If she keeps the amount of coffee she drinks down, starts to eat and sleep properly and stays away form stress as much as possible, I don't think there should be a problem. After all, I don't think anyone wants to share a ship with a coffe-deprived and pregnant Captain, do you?" Tom pulls a face and opens his mouth to answer, but B'Elanna interrupts him.

"He has a point, Tom, you have to give him that. She's bad enough in the morning before she's had her morning coffee, you've seen her. Now try to imagine her after _seven months!_" Tom pulled another face, and B'Elanna, Neelix, Sam and the Doctor start to laugh.

"Okay, point taken."

"Kathryn, sweetie, it's time to get up, we're meeting Sam and Naomi for breakfast soon," Kathryn moans, and struggles to sit up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She swings her legs out of bed and Chakotay helps her to her feet, raising the lights enough for Kathryn to stumble to the wardrobe and pull out a loose fitting blouse and a pair of slacks. Chakotay helped her into it and pulled her to her feet, taking her hand and turning out the lights as they leave for the Mess Hall.

They find Sam and Naomi sat at a table by the large floor to ceiling windows, waving. Neelix appears with the morning special and two coffees. They thank him, and he disappears back into the kitchen.

"Captain, are you okay? You look exhausted." Kathryn manages a tired smile over the top of her coffee mug.

"Yes, just a bit tired, and my back hurts a lot, that's all. Everything seems to be so tiring these last few weeks. It'll pass, I hope." Chakotay rubs her back, and she leans against him, biting her lip in an effort not to cry out as a snake of pain tightens around her stomach and lower back. Sam and Naomi notice the fleeting look of pain that flashes across Kathryn's face. Chakotay can feel the skin beneath his hand tensing.

"Kathryn? How long?"

Her eyes fill with tears. "I-I don't know, a few hours I think," she stammered, her voice cracking with fear and panic. Chakotay turned to Sam.

"We need to get her to Sickbay." Naomi ran ahead as Chakotay and Sam supported Kathryn as she staggered and stumbled painfully through the corridors and into the nearest turbolift where Naomi was waiting patiently for them. She instructed it to Sickbay, but it seemed to take an age before it reached the desired destination.

The Doctor appeared upon their arrival. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency – Captain, what's wrong?" She cries out, her knees buckling and sending her crashing to the floor in pain, pulling Sam and Chakotay to their knees. She grips their uniforms, her eyes screwed shut as the Doctor scans her. He taps his combadge.

"Mr. Paris, your assisstance is required in Sickbay, please report as soon as possible. Naomi, can you help me set up in that room over there, please. Ensign, Commander, can you change the Captain into a medical robe as quickly as possible," he ordered.

Time slowed, almost to a stop. Then the pain became constant and overwhelming, and Kathryn screamed. Time crashes into fast forward, then slows back to normal speed when the Doctor places the small baby girl wrapped in a blanket in Kathryn's arms.

Naomi watches from the doorway as Chakotay holds Kathryn and his daughter close, murmuring to Kathryn until he invites her in. Naomi climbs onto the end of the bed.

"Can I hold her, Aunt Kathy?" Chakotay lifts the little girl from Kathryn's arms and gently settles her in Naomi's. She smiled as the little baby looked up at her with wide eyes, gurgling. "She's cute. What's her name?"

"Sally Naomi Kathryn. After a wonderful Ensign, who gave us a sweet little girl that we know has a lot of love, and the woman warrior that I love more than anything in the world," Naomi giggled. Little Sally started to cry, startling Naomi.

"It's okay Naomi, she's just hungry." Naomi relaxed, curling up at the end of the biobed to watch as Kathryn nursed Sally, Sally's hand closed in a fist against Kathryn's pale skin.

Sally, soon full and content, yawned, making Kathryn and Naomi yawn. "I think it's bedtime now Naomi, don't you?" asked Chakotay, lifting a now sleeping Sally into a bassinet next to the bed, kissing her goodnight, before turning to kiss a half-asleep Kathryn goodnight too. Naomi, like Sally, was already asleep at the end of the bed. Chakotay smiled and pulled the spare blanket over her, before sitting down in the chair next to Sally's bassinet and Kathryn's biobed, resting his head on his arms on the biobed. It wasn't long before he was asleep too, and that was how Tom, B'Elanna and Tuvok found them a few hours later.

"They look so peaceful like that," B'Elanna murmured.

Sally woke and started to cry, waking Kathryn. She slid carefully from the biobed, trying not to disturb Chakotay or Naomi with her movements, and picked up the little baby, hushing her until she quietened. Sally waved a hand up at her mother, tugging at Kathryn's collar with the other. Kathryn laughed softly, and pushed herself back onto the biobed. Sally gurgled, and started to nurse, her small fist resting against Kathryn's skin.

As Sally finished nursing, Chakotay woke. He smiled tiredly up at Kathryn and kissed her lightly on the lips as Sally started to cry, waving her arms at Chakotay. Naomi woke with a jump, and crawled to sit at Kathryn's side.

"I think someone wants a good morning cuddle, Chakotay," she said with a smile.

"They're going to make great parents," B'Elanna said.

"Why wouldn't they? They're great people."

"Many of the crew looks up to them and sees them as the ones to please in the absence of their own parents and family. Without them, this vessel and her crew would not be able to function properly and live as a real crew should. They are the heart of Voyager's family."

Tom and B'Elanna grin, and after a few more minutes, they depart with Tuvok, leaving Naomi and the command team with the little baby that cooed and gurgled happily.


	2. The Accident

Stranded

Kathryn and Chakotay are splashing around in the water with B'Elanna, Tom, Harry, Samantha and Naomi Wildman, Beverly Crusher, Will Riker, Deanna Troi and most, if not all, of the children from the Enterprise.

Chakotay ducks Kathryn beneath the water, and she resurfaces, gasping for breath. She splashes water at him, and jumps onto his back, covering his eyes with her hands. B'Elanna grins, and climbs onto Tom's back, and Deanna climbs onto Will's, all laughing, shrieking and squealing as they splash water over each.

Seven, Tuvok and Geordi have their heads together, examining a PADD. Seven points at the screen and inputs something into another PADD that she holds in her hand.

The Doctor stands at the edge of the clearing, facing into the trees, scanning something with a tricorder, a bemused, puzzled expression on his face.

The children tumble out of the water, scrambling towards the large picnic blanket laid out with food. The adults stumble out next, talking and laughing, Kathryn riding on Chakotay's back, squealing as he tickles behind her knees. All are soaking wet and flushed, trailing a small river of water from the lake up to the picnic blanket, where they settle down on the ground behind the children.

Seven, Tuvok and Geordi explain the contents of their PADD's to B'Elanna. Sam, Beverly and Deanna converse quietly about childcare. Tom and Harry crack jokes and entertain Naomi and the children of the Enterprise. Will and Jean-Luc discuss cuisine with Neelix and Kes. Kathryn and Chakotay studied the Doctor's tricorder readings, frowning.

The Doctor, Kathryn, Chakotay, Will and Worf push their way through the overgrown bushes and low-hanging tree branches, wading through the tall plants and grasses, the sticks and twigs scratching at their skin and tangling in their hair.

The sunlight that filtered through the canopy above them was fading as the sun set over the horizon beyond the lake to their left. They had been walking for hours.

Kathryn stopped. Chakotay, Will and Worf crashed into her. The Doctor kept walking for a few paces before he stopped and turned, having realised that they were no following him. She's heard something, in the bushes up ahead, on the left hand side of the faint and fading footpath. She slips carefully, silently, down the path and around the Doctor, peering into the dark bushes where she thought the noise had come from.

The sound of a primitive twenty-first century handgun firing throws them off-guard. Kathryn screams out in pain, staggering and falling backwards, blood spilling from her side and pooling over the grass and bracken that coated the ground. Her eyes flutter and her skin starts to turn pale.

"Kathryn!" Chakotay yells, dropping everything he holds in his hands and running to her side, taking the hand that she desperately tries to hold out to him. He brushes the hair sticking to her forehead out of her eyes, his lower lip trembling in shock and distress. The Doctor pulls out his tricorder and scans Kathryn over Chakotay's shoulder.

"We need to get her back. It's going to be dangerous moving her, but we can't leave her here. Come on, Chakotay, lets get her home."

She's unconscious, almost in a coma. Chakotay watches over her, sitting by her side, always holding her hand and never moving, unless it's to whisper in her ear or to accept food or drink, though he barely eats. He sleeps with his head on her shoulder, and never complains.

Sometimes, she stirs, but only briefly. She whispers his name, squeezes his hand and tells him that she'll be alright, she promises. Beverly smiles at the irony of it all. They reminded her of Will and Deanna, when she had first met them; they had tried to deny their feelings for each other, but their love and caring for the other had always showed on their faces, and they would often remain with each other, stuck like glue together, even when one or the other was injured.

In the small space of time that she had known Kathryn and Chakotay, she had noticed many similarities between them and Will and Deanna, yet Kathryn and Chakotay were more open about how they felt, more relaxed and laid back about letting others see their wild emotions, although many of their crew said that this was one of the few times that they had seen their Command Team so happy.


End file.
